Short stories or Real life experience that jog your mind to keep your spirits healthy.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Pin Drop Silence

I
am sure every one of us should have heard the phrase "Pin drop
silence" at some point of time in our lives. I have always tried to make a
figurative meaning out of this phrase but couldn't. Finally, I came across some
real life situations, where at the end there was stark silence.....a silence
that spoke much more than words could have.....Situations in which the heart sinks to levels from where one can hear nothing else but their own heart beat
and probably the sound of a pin drop.....

Situation
1:

Field
Marshal Sam Bahadur Maneckshaw once started addressing a public meeting at
Ahmedabad in English.

The crowd started chanting, "Speak in Gujarati. We
will hear you only if you speak in Gujarati."

Field Marshal Sam Bahadur
Maneckshaw stopped. Swept the audience with a hard stare and replied,
"Friends, I have fought many a battle in my long career. I have learned
Punjabi from men of the Sikh Regiment; Marathi from the Maratha Regiment; Tamil
from the men of the Madras Sappers; Bengali from the men of the Bengal Sappers,
Hindi from the Bihar Regiment; and even Nepali from the Gurkha Regiment.
Unfortunately there was no soldier from Gujarat from whom I could have learned
Gujarati.".............

You could hear a pin drop....

Situation 2:

Robert
Whiting, an elderly US gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane.

At
French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on.

"You
have been to France before, Monsieur ?", the Customs officer asked
sarcastically.

Mr.
Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.

"Then
you should know enough to have your passport ready."

The
American said, “The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."

"Impossible.
Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France !", the
Customs officer sneered.

The
American senior gave the Frenchman a long, hard look.

Then
he quietly explained ...

"Well,
when I came ashore at Omaha Beach, at 4:40am, on D-Day in 1944, to help
liberate your country, I couldn't find a single Frenchman to show a passport
to.... "

You could hear a pin drop....

Situation 3:

Soon
after getting freedom from British rule in 1947, the de-facto prime minister of
India, Jawahar Lal Nehru called a meeting of senior Army Officers to select the
first General of the Indian army.

Nehru
proposed, "I think we should appoint a British officer as a General of The
Indian Army, as we don't have enough experience to lead the same."

Having learned under the British, only to serve and rarely to lead, all the civilians and men in uniform present nodded their heads in agreement.

However
one senior officer, Nathu Singh Rathore, asked for permission to speak. Nehru
was a bit taken aback by the independent streak of the officer, though, he
asked him to speak freely.

Rathore
said, "You see, sir, we don't have enough experience to lead a nation too,
so shouldn't we appoint a British person as the first Prime Minister of
India?"

You
could hear a pin drop....

After
a pregnant pause, Nehru asked Rathore, "Are you ready to be the first
General of The Indian Army?"........

Rathore declined the offer saying "Sir, we have a very talented army officer, my senior, Gen. Cariappa, who is the most deserving among us."

This is how the brilliant Gen. Cariappa became the first General and Rathore the first ever Lt. General of the Indian Army.